Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/380

d'AIhret. 354 CONQUEST OF NAVARRE. PART The duke of Alva lost no time in pressing his '- — advantage ; opening the way by a proclamation of qnered. thc CathoHc king, that it was intended only to hold possession of the country as security for the pacific disposition of its sovereigns, until the end of his present expedition against Guienne. From whatev- er cause, the Spanish general experienced so little resistance, that in less than a fortnight he overran and subdued nearly the whole of Upper Navarre. So short a time sufficed for the subversion of a monarchy, which, in defiance of storm and strata- gem, had maintained its independence unimpaired, with a few brief exceptions, for seven centuries. " Character Qn reviewinsf these extraordinarv events, we are of Jean " j ' led to distrust the capacity and courage of a prince, who could so readily abandon his kingdom, without so much as firing a shot in its defence. John had shown, however, on more than one occasion, that he was destitute of neither. He was not, it must be confessed, of the temper best suited to thc fierce and stirring times on which he was cast. He was of an amiable disposition, social and fond of pleas- ure, and so little jealous of his royal dignity, that he mixed freely in the dances and other entertain- ments of the humblest of his subjects. His greatest defect was the facility with which he reposed the cares of state on favorites, not always the most de- serving. His greatest merit was his love of let- 1* Manifiesto del Rev D. Fer- Lebrija, De Bello Navariensi, lib. nando, July 30lh, apiid Bernaldez, 1, cap. 5. — Garibay, Compendio, Reyes Cai61icos, MS., cap. 236. — torn. lii. lib. 29, cap. 26.